Bbc....what's Up?

[sleepyjohn]

I like to listen to Radio 4 on streaming audio in the mornings.

For some time I've had to forgo Any Questions in the shower.

The BBC seems very difficult when not impossible to get up. To check if it's foreign bandwidth in general I check other foreign sites and they usually load normally.

It seems to be the BBC.

What's up?

John

[apetley]

Same problem using Maxnut.

Front page loads exremely slowly, sometimes make a cup of tea whilst it's doing so.

Once in it's a little better but still frustrating trying to get 'real' news.

[webfact]

streams like a charm from Bangkok with CSLoxinfo at 9:50am

[sleepyjohn]

streams like a charm from Bangkok with CSLoxinfo at 9:50am

No something's not right here in CM but don't see how it can be CM specific.

I started heading towards Any Questions just now. Before I'd gone through two steps on bbc.co.uk to get there I'd gone to CNN in another tab and loaded and listened to a short streaming video about cheese rolls on planes.

I've now written this post.....checked back.....and the BBC page is still loading.

John

[KhunDave]

I've also been having a problem with BBC "listen live" from CM for the last few weeks (Maxnet). Can't quite figure it out: even though the well-documented Maxnet issues now seem to have abated somewhat there is still some problem with accessing this service. I can now get reasonable speedtest results to the UK - 1mb or better with ping times around 400 for much of the day - the best results for quite a while. The BBC is still very difficult if not impossible though. Puzzling.

[sleepyjohn]

I've also been having a problem with BBC "listen live" from CM for the last few weeks (Maxnet). Can't quite figure it out: even though the well-documented Maxnet issues now seem to have abated somewhat there is still some problem with accessing this service. I can now get reasonable speedtest results to the UK - 1mb or better with ping times around 400 for much of the day - the best results for quite a while. The BBC is still very difficult if not impossible though. Puzzling.

Any chance it's being locally sort of semi-blocked I wonder.

The BBC hasn't been that kind to some people in positions of power here.

THAT"S INTERESTING!!

I happen to be having breakfast outside with WIFI and just tried going to Any Questions just as normal.

Every page loaded quickly and it was running in no time.

At home I use Maxnet. Here they have True.

But I still don't know what's up.......hmmmm......

[Bagwan]

Am having the same problem here in Pattaya.

However the Maxnet problem has almost disappeared. Even daytime download speeds are sort of acceptable.

[Richb2004v2]

Same problem here. I used to be able to listen with limited problems, now even the front page is slow to load and impossible to listen to anything.

[sleepyjohn]

Same problem here. I used to be able to listen with limited problems, now even the front page is slow to load and impossible to listen to anything.

I must say I'm getting bored to tears with no BBC.

I don't believe it's the BBC itself it is a very well out together website and I'm sure they provide what they need to.

When I switch to other URLs bang awa y it goes.

What would be the best way to check and perhaps complain about possible traffic shaping against the BBC? (We know they weren't too popular here recently).

cheers John

[sleepyjohn]

I did some checking

I've been having infuriatingly poor performance from my Maxnet connection all week. Curiously though, my email client has been connecting to my server normally all the time. Also I've noticed that once a connection is made to a website, it loads pretty fast, the problem being the initial connection, usually with U.S. and Europe based websites... So I figured Maxnet are having DNS issues, as their engineers couldn't connect 4.

For the benefit of other Maxnet customers, this is definitely DNS problems. Maxnet on TTT use their own international gateway and they're probably screwing it up. A Maxnet engineer gave me two DNS server IP addresses tonight and I threw them into my router's settings (best to add them to the router so all computers using the connection speed up)... and I seem to be surfing pretty fast again now...

203.144.207.29

203.144.207.49

... I checked out these IPs and they actually belong to True Internet, so I'm not quite sure what the deal is there with Maxnet engineers giving out true DNS servers to their customers

You could also try out http://www.opendns.com/

... or the other big free DNS service, http://www.dnsadvantage.com/ which is the one I'm trying out right now, as they have servers located in Hong Kong, India and China, unlike their rival who only have servers in America and Europe.

I've been using dnsadvantage for a few hours now and every website, no matter where it is located, seems very fast and responsive.

*

Posted 01 July 2009 - 10:44 AM

I use this American one and it works very well, too:

primary: 208.67.222.222

secondary: 208.67.220.220

I had many problems until I switched.

OK I went to

http://www.dnsadvantage.com/switch/router.html

it told me to note my current settings before applying their new DNS.

When I hook into my router I don't see any current DNS settings, just 3 boxes for new ones

Static DNS 1: . . .

Static DNS 2: . . .

Static DNS 3: . . .

WINS:

I can also se my IP address, subnet mask, and starting IP address. Which do I note?

Also Big Question: Is it safe?

John

[bangkokrick]

I like to listen to Radio 4 on streaming audio in the mornings.

For some time I've had to forgo Any Questions in the shower.

The BBC seems very difficult when not impossible to get up. To check if it's foreign bandwidth in general I check other foreign sites and they usually load normally.

It seems to be the BBC.

What's up?

John

Hi Sleepy,

I can connect Ok from Bangkok and the age loads fast. Try this go to Free Proxy Scroll to the bottom of the page and enter the URL www.bbc.com and click go. This will make the request from a UK proxy server rather than Thai and it should enable the BBC i player to work. No guarantee, but give it a try it has worked for me in the past.

Cheers, Rick

[The Real Mandrake]

I did some checking

I've been having infuriatingly poor performance from my Maxnet connection all week. Curiously though, my email client has been connecting to my server normally all the time. Also I've noticed that once a connection is made to a website, it loads pretty fast, the problem being the initial connection, usually with U.S. and Europe based websites... So I figured Maxnet are having DNS issues, as their engineers couldn't connect 4.

For the benefit of other Maxnet customers, this is definitely DNS problems. Maxnet on TTT use their own international gateway and they're probably screwing it up. A Maxnet engineer gave me two DNS server IP addresses tonight and I threw them into my router's settings (best to add them to the router so all computers using the connection speed up)... and I seem to be surfing pretty fast again now...

203.144.207.29

203.144.207.49

... I checked out these IPs and they actually belong to True Internet, so I'm not quite sure what the deal is there with Maxnet engineers giving out true DNS servers to their customers

You could also try out http://www.opendns.com/

... or the other big free DNS service, http://www.dnsadvantage.com/ which is the one I'm trying out right now, as they have servers located in Hong Kong, India and China, unlike their rival who only have servers in America and Europe.

I've been using dnsadvantage for a few hours now and every website, no matter where it is located, seems very fast and responsive.

*

Posted 01 July 2009 - 10:44 AM

I use this American one and it works very well, too:

primary: 208.67.222.222

secondary: 208.67.220.220

I had many problems until I switched.

OK I went to

http://www.dnsadvantage.com/switch/router.html

it told me to note my current settings before applying their new DNS.

When I hook into my router I don't see any current DNS settings, just 3 boxes for new ones

Static DNS 1: . . .

Static DNS 2: . . .

Static DNS 3: . . .

WINS:

I can also se my IP address, subnet mask, and starting IP address. Which do I note?

Also Big Question: Is it safe?

John

If you're going to come to my website, post links to TV... and then copy and paste my content, credit the source...

http://www.orientexpat.com/forum/19205-max...on-in-thailand/

Bloody cheek

[sleepyjohn]

If you're going to come to my website, post links to TV... and then copy and paste my content, credit the source...

http://www.orientexpat.com/forum/19205-max...on-in-thailand/

Bloody cheek

Wow Mandrakes really do yell when pulled from the ground!

Sorry old chap I had no idea it was your website....

.....if i may be permitted another bit of nerve, any chance of an answer to the questions?....and did the speedup last or was it a flash in the pan?

sorry again and thanx

Sleepyjohn

[The Real Mandrake]

You wouldn't believe how many people find my website and send me a PM on my forum, asking for my advice on this, that and the other re: Thailand, just like you did today... and direct me to a thread on ThaiVisa for me to comment. I mean for Christ's sake, if you took the time to sign up on my forum because you found my posts useful and then send me a PM on my website, how hard can it be to post your question on *my* forum if you want *my* advice?!!!... and I'm bloody sick of it, so p!$$ off...

BTW my Maxnet connection is running like s#!t off a stick thanks...... next...

[JetsetBkk]

You wouldn't believe how many people find my website ...

2? 3?

[sammycic]

Thought it was just me but it almost impossible for me to connect to bbciplaer using maxnet, have tried different dns and checked all my avg security. only one time in the last couple of weeks have i listened to bbc radio.

I can connect to any other Uk or US site so quick and Aus.

[sammycic]

You wouldn't believe how many people find my website and send me a PM on my forum, asking for my advice on this, that and the other re: Thailand, just like you did today... and direct me to a thread on ThaiVisa for me to comment. I mean for Christ's sake, if you took the time to sign up on my forum because you found my posts useful and then send me a PM on my website, how hard can it be to post your question on *my* forum if you want *my* advice?!!!... and I'm bloody sick of it, so p!$ off...

BTW my Maxnet connection is running like s#!t off a stick thanks...... next...

my maxnet connection runs like a dream except to bbc.

[sleepyjohn]

The BBC used to be fine, so after the journalist problems in BKK a few months ago......

Is it possible to check into traffic shaping?

[sammycic]

The BBC used to be fine, so after the journalist problems in BKK a few months ago......

Is it possible to check into traffic shaping?

Something is going on as this seems to only relate to maxnet customers. I emailed bbc yesterday maybe they can shed some light on it.waiting for a reply. no point asking maxnet what is blocking the bbc.

[delboy]

I'm in Chiang Mai and no problems here listening to BBC radio using Maxnet, however a short while ago I couldn't get things to work and I found that it was NoScript that was stopping it. It seems that BBC Iplayer must have recently started running scripts on it's pages because I have being using NoScript for a long time with no previous problems. Once I told NoScript to allow the page, everything worked fine.

[sammycic]

I'm in Chiang Mai and no problems here listening to BBC radio using Maxnet, however a short while ago I couldn't get things to work and I found that it was NoScript that was stopping it. It seems that BBC Iplayer must have recently started running scripts on it's pages because I have being using NoScript for a long time with no previous problems. Once I told NoScript to allow the page, everything worked fine.

Is this noscript in explorer settings, not real good at this stuff but i think i have already changed this yesterday as the bbc help tells you to enable scripting.

I amusing windows xp thanks jeff

[KhunDave]

I'm in Chiang Mai and no problems here listening to BBC radio using Maxnet, however a short while ago I couldn't get things to work and I found that it was NoScript that was stopping it. It seems that BBC Iplayer must have recently started running scripts on it's pages because I have being using NoScript for a long time with no previous problems. Once I told NoScript to allow the page, everything worked fine.

Also in CM on Maxnet and BBC radio used be crystal clear for me until the Maxnet meltdown a couple of weeks ago. Since then can't even get the news pages to load in less than five minutes. Would love to know why this is so BBC specific - I can get any other UK website to open normally. Can any of the tech experts (Monty are you out there?) she any light on why this situation seems un-solveable?

[sleepyjohn]

- I can get any other UK website to open normally.

That's it Dave.

Just entered BBC then London Stock Exchange.

LSE 7 seconds.

BBC still waiting 3 minutes later and not holding my breath.

[melonf]

Summising from observations rather than knowing the facts:

It is all to do with the site filtering software put in place by Maxnet (or perhaps at an even higher level)

The vast majority of sites are totally unblocked and these work fine.

Its the sites that are partially blocked that cause the problem. ie where some pages are allowed and some are not. These sites are passed through to another proxy that does this detailed filtering, eg for BBC or Wikipedia. Often this proxy is overworked and slow even when the vast majority of unfiltered sites are working to full speed.

[sammycic]

Summising from observations rather than knowing the facts:

It is all to do with the site filtering software put in place by Maxnet (or perhaps at an even higher level)

The vast majority of sites are totally unblocked and these work fine.

Its the sites that are partially blocked that cause the problem. ie where some pages are allowed and some are not. These sites are passed through to another proxy that does this detailed filtering, eg for BBC or Wikipedia. Often this proxy is overworked and slow even when the vast majority of unfiltered sites are working to full speed.

so it is possible to find out if the bbc is filtered.

thanks jeff.

[melonf]

so it is possible to find out if the bbc is filtered.

thanks jeff.

FACT maintain the lists but no updates this year

http://facthai.files.wordpress.com

[sleepyjohn]

Hi

Any responses to enquiries?

A week later I just tried getting into BBC R4.

Ten minutes later and nothing.

John

[sammycic]

this is an email i received from bbc if is any help.

Thank you for your e-mail regarding 'BBC iPlayer'.

Some security programs, firewalls or routers may block your access to BBC iPlayer. This may mean that you always see the loading screen, with a spinning circle in the middle of where the video should be. Please check your computer's settings to ensure that it is not blocking BBC iPlayer or Flash.

I done everything as said in the email and there is no way i can open BBC.

It seems this issue is only peculiar to maxnet?

chock dee

[KhunDave]

JOY!!!

I've got the Today programme running right now. First time in weeks that I've been able to access it. Took about 15 minutes to load, but it's been reasonably stable for the past half hour, a bit metallic sounding from time to time, but listenable.

Maybe the Maxnet "throttling" of the BBC (if that's what it is) is coming to an end. Let's hope so.

[sammycic]

JOY!!!

I've got the Today programme running right now. First time in weeks that I've been able to access it. Took about 15 minutes to load, but it's been reasonably stable for the past half hour, a bit metallic sounding from time to time, but listenable.

Maybe the Maxnet "throttling" of the BBC (if that's what it is) is coming to an end. Let's hope so.

I hope this maxnet whatever "funny business" is over tomorrow so can listen to the 5th test.

Still funny have no problem what so ever listening to stan james radio.